Oh, yes. I know my conservative brothers and sisters in Christ have always been better at evangelism than us liberal Christians. As individuals, and as the Church, Christ's Bride as a whole, there's always room for improvement.
Politically, being conservative means you are more concerned about the business owner, the wealthy, those who already have power in the society. What did Jesus have to say to those at the top of the political structure?
Nope. Sorry, but I think the arts must be supported.
As a professional musician, I can tell you that the arts are CENTRAL to civilization. It has been proven (and if you need, I'll dig up some of the studies) that arts education improves a student's performance in the sciences as well. It develops that part of the brain. Even if a student never pursues an artistic career past a hobby. Having strong arts in a community is reflected exponentially by a much higher level of productivity, higher reported "general happiness," more business development, and lower rates of crime and poverty .... I mean, really, when you see the evidence, you have to wonder why anyone could be against the arts. And you'd want to increase its funding to more than $0.001, too. I mean, is one tenth of one penny, worth it to make sure that my children and my children's children have it as good as I have?
So no, I am vehemently in favor of the NEA
As a professional musician, I can tell you that the arts are CENTRAL to civilization. It has been proven (and if you need, I'll dig up some of the studies) that arts education improves a student's performance in the sciences as well. It develops that part of the brain. Even if a student never pursues an artistic career past a hobby. Having strong arts in a community is reflected exponentially by a much higher level of productivity, higher reported "general happiness," more business development, and lower rates of crime and poverty .... I mean, really, when you see the evidence, you have to wonder why anyone could be against the arts. And you'd want to increase its funding to more than $0.001, too. I mean, is one tenth of one penny, worth it to make sure that my children and my children's children have it as good as I have?
So no, I am vehemently in favor of the NEA
I would like to say, however, that one can support the arts without supporting the NEA, of course. There was art and art education before 1966. Also, again not trying to start anything, the NEA funding currently equates to roughly 50 cents per capita. I know that taxes come from many things other than people, such as corporations, but what does the tenth of a cent refer to? Is that how much is spend per student by the NEA? If that is the case, That seems to me to be a great reason to abolish it, as much of the money goes to salaries etc. Some positions in the NEA pay around $180,000 a year! I am in favor of each state handling their own art funding/education decisions, which I believe would result in greater opportunities, not fewer. That is my feeling on it, I didn't want you to think I was against the arts, far from it.